There are very few things that make breakfast amazing and adding chocolate is one of those things at the top of my list.

And eating breakfast for dinner. Or lunch.

Take for instance French toast. I ate this all the time growing up, but never like this!

I don’t like traditional white or wheat breads. Not for this dish. Bakery or homemade sourdough is the best. Seriously – you need the right kind of sourdough -or else it just doesn’t taste the same. Many sourdough sandwich breads are not traditional recipes and don’t taste like real sourdough. Get or make the best sourdough you can. It’s worth the effort.

Then you use whole milk or even full-fat yogurt which gives it an amazing taste. You can also use a dairy substitute, but outside of coconut milk, the consistency of almond or hazelnut milk is a little different and the taste is a little different – but go for it! Whatever you can use, use it.

Next the eggs. Use the best you can, which is pasture-raised. Knowing that you are consuming healthy, real and non-messed with ingredients always makes a person feel good.

Now it’s time to bring on the cream cheese. Oh my. I like to make my own – which is as simple as singing Old McDonald Had A Farm – and worth it in the flavor alone. Store bought cream cheese doesn’t  even compare. Seriously. Philadelphia has nothing on homemade cream cheese.

Of course the dark chocolate comes next. Why? Because dark chocolate fits in with any dish. I promise you.

Slathered with real butter and maple syrup and you have yourself a masterpiece on a plate! Good and nutrient dense, beneficial for your hormones and just a great way to eat french toast!

Some of you may be wondering how any of this is healthy, but when you use ‘real’ ingredients – you’ll have yourself an amazingly nutrient dense meal that is packed with vitamins, minerals and other beneficial nutrients that your body needs and can utilize properly. Pasture-raised eggs, full-fat dairy products (from grass-fed cows, raw or non-homogenized and low-heat pasteurized), butter from grass-fed cows, cream cheese from real buttermilk or full-fat yogurt, grade B maple syrup and dark chocolate (better than milk chocolate and preferably chocolate without soy lecithin) – perfect choices for a healthy meal.

All of this together yields the best French toast in the world. Let me rephrase that – it’s not just French toast, it’s Dark Chocolate & Cream Cheese Stuffed Sourdough French Toast.

Even the name is amazing!

Dark Chocolate & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

What You Need:

– 1 loaf of bakery sourdough bread

– 4 oz to 8 oz cream cheese

– 8 eggs, pasture-raised

– 1/3 cup whole milk*

– 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips/chunks

– Cinnamon (optional)

– coconut oil for coating skillet

*can substitute milk with kefir, yogurt, coconut milk or almond milk

What You Do:

1. Heat a skillet with coconut oil over medium heat.
2. In a large, wide base bowl (easier for dipping bread), whisk together the eggs and milk until thoroughly blended.
3. Add the cinnamon if you are using it.
4. Once skillet is heated, dip a piece of bread in the egg mixture on both sides and place in skillet. Don’t saturate it or else it remains soggy. Just a quick skinny dip on both sides is all you need!
5. Allow each side to cook until it’s light brown.
6. Once on the second side, spread some cream cheese on the ‘finished’ side that is facing up, sprinkle some dark chocolate over the cream cheese. Fold the bread in half or if the pieces are smaller, place another finished piece of French toast on top and flip one more time for about 30 seconds to heat through.
7. Remove from the pan and place on a plate and warm in the oven on 150-170 F degrees to keep warm until all pieces are done.
8. Repeat these steps until you are out of egg mixture or bread!
9. Top with real butter and real maple syrup .
10. If you have leftovers, store in a sealed container in the fridge and reheat in the oven or in the toaster!

You should make this today, really. Your family will love you for it.

What? Oh, you’re welcome.

xo Kari